Browsing Tag

hero

Guest Posts, Heroes, Terrorism

The Price of Loving a Hero.

November 17, 2014
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By Erin Stewart.

I don’t watch the news; on October 22, 2014, I didn’t have to.

War. Suspects. Shooting. Soldiers. Police. Government. First responders.

Terrorism.

These words filled my timelines. My Facebook. My Twitter. My Instagram. My inbox.

It was one of those days we’ll always remember. And I love a first responder; in fact, I love many. So for me, it was also one of the days I always fear.

The night before, I read an article that pissed me off. It was about policing; it was anti- police. I put it up on Facebook and the cop-bashing started immediately, so I deleted it.

The next morning, October 22nd, Canada was faced with a critical incident that tested our first responders, government security and Nation’s values – our government was faced with a shooting that took place on Parliament Hill and the Rideau Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The life of an unarmed soldier who was symbolically standing at the National War Memorial was taken when a gunman fired two shots into his back and injured others. This all took place after another soldier was run down in Quebec earlier that week.

In the midst of this crisis, our heroes show up, equipped and ready. The media winds shifted; that day and in the following days, our first responders were painted as heroes, not villains. But they’re always heroes to me.

The thing about loving a first responder is this: We worry. We worry all the time.

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courage, Guest Posts, Video

The Bravery Tapes.

December 13, 2013

The Bravery Tapes.

By Jens Erik Gould.

 

Why bravery?

It helps build a better world. It’s inspiring to watch people doing acts of courage in the face of adversity. It shows us the resilience of the human spirit, and inspires us to be brave in our own lives. This can be powerful because it stirs up the emotions and moves people deeply.

The problem is that we often don’t examples of bravery even though they’re all around us. People do acts of courage on our streets, in our office buildings, in their cars as they pass by. They’re everywhere; yet we don’t know it. Bravery Tapes aims to uncover these stories and acquaint people with them in a moving way, so that they will be inspired in their own lives. Even if someone makes the smallest change in their lives, it’s worth it. That’s growth.

Take a look at the most recent Bravery Tapes episode (below) that was released this week.

Ted Wiard had the classic, all-American life: he was a schoolteacher and tennis pro who married his high school sweetheart and had two beautiful daughters. Then in a short time period, his brother, wife, mother-in-law and two daughters all died. It was tragic. Ted could no longer bear the pain and had thoughts of ending his life. But he found the courage to turn everything around and use these awful experiences as fuel to help others. In beautiful Taos, New Mexico, he opened Golden Willow Retreat, the country’s first treatment center dedicated to grief and loss. Hopefully people will see this video be inspired to be better in they’re lives.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCk5RSjXtnc]

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Jens Erik Gould is a journalist, singer-songwriter and creator of the web series Bravery Tapes. He is currently TIME Magazine’s main contributor from Los Angeles, and has reported from over a dozen countries for The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Public Radio. Bravery Tapes has been featured in the LA Times, TIME and Huffington Post. As a musician, Jens has released three albums, has performed in multiple countries and performs regularly across Southern California. His most recent record “Guns Down” was released in 2012.